2021 Domaine Wachau Singerriedel Riesling Smaragd

A magnificent single-vineyard Riesling from one of the Wachau’s most celebrated terraced sites

Power, precision and extraordinary mineral intensity from the legendary Singerriedel vineyard.

96 Points – Falstaff | 94 Points – JamesSuckling.com

Wachau, Austria | Ried Singerriedel, Spitz | RRP $95 | Riesling Smaragd | Powerful • Mineral • Ageworthy

“Great Wachau Riesling in all its glory — ripe stone fruit, citrus and exotic spice wrapped around brilliant acidity, immense mineral tension and a long, stony finish.”

Tasting Notes

Appearance: Bright yellow-gold with subtle green reflections — youthful, luminous and beautifully clear.

Aroma: Intense yet wonderfully precise, opening with white peach, ripe apricot, citrus zest and delicate tropical fruit, followed by florals, herbs, subtle spice and a deep underlying mineral character.

Give it time in the glass and more layers emerge — lime, peach skin, crushed stone and a touch of smoky spice.

Palate: Powerful and concentrated, but never heavy. Ripe stone fruit and citrus sit over a spine of vibrant acidity, with the rocky mineral character of Singerriedel bringing tension and focus.

There's plenty of texture through the middle, but the wine remains beautifully controlled.

Richness meets precision.

Power meets freshness.

Fruit meets stone.

Finish: Long, dry and intensely mineral, with citrus, apricot, herbs and saline, stony characters lingering beautifully.

This is Riesling with genuine authority.

Critical Acclaim

96 Points – Falstaff

A huge score for this single-vineyard Wachau Riesling and a reflection of just how impressive the combination of Singerriedel and the 2021 vintage can be.

The wine delivers concentration and ripe fruit, but it's the freshness, mineral tension and extraordinary length that elevate it.

96 POINTS.

Serious territory.

94 Points – JamesSuckling.com

Another excellent review, reinforcing the quality and structure of this powerful dry Riesling.

At $95 RRP, you're getting a highly rated single-vineyard Smaragd from one of the Wachau's great sites for under $100.

That's pretty compelling buying.

The Singerriedel Vineyard

This is where the story gets particularly interesting.

RIED SINGERRIEDEL.

Situated above Spitz at the western end of the Wachau, Singerriedel is one of the region's most celebrated Riesling vineyards.

It's spectacular wine country.

The vines sit on extremely steep, narrow terraces rising dramatically above the Danube.

The vineyard faces predominantly south to southwest, capturing plenty of sunshine, while its elevated position and cooler influences around Spitz help retain the acidity essential for great Riesling.

The soils are lean and rocky, based primarily around:

Paragneiss and mica schist.

There's very little easy living for the vines here.

They have to work.

Roots push deep into fractured rock searching for nutrients and water.

Yields are naturally limited.

And the resulting Rieslings can combine remarkable fruit intensity with a distinctly stony, mineral and tightly structured personality.

Singerriedel is a serious Riesling vineyard.

What Does Smaragd Mean?

Within the traditional Wachau classification, Smaragd represents the most powerful and concentrated style.

The name comes from the Smaragdeidechse, the emerald-green lizards commonly seen sunning themselves on the Wachau's warm stone terraces.

Historically, Wachau wines were divided into:

Steinfeder — light and delicate.

Federspiel — medium-bodied, fresh and beautifully balanced.

Smaragd — the richest, most concentrated and ageworthy wines.

But great Smaragd shouldn't simply be about alcohol or ripeness.

The best examples combine power with precision.

And that's exactly what makes this wine work.

There's concentration.

There's ripe fruit.

There's texture.

But underneath everything is the acidity and mineral structure that keeps the wine alive.

2021 – A Brilliant Vintage for Riesling

The 2021 vintage is another major reason to get excited about this bottle.

Cooler conditions and a long growing season gave Austria's best producers the opportunity to make Rieslings with beautiful natural acidity, precision and exceptional ageing potential.

For great sites such as Singerriedel, that's exactly what you want.

The wine has the ripeness expected of Smaragd but also a tremendous backbone.

This isn't broad or blowsy Riesling.

It's concentrated and powerful, but also focused, energetic and beautifully defined.

And with several years of bottle age already behind it, the wine is only beginning to reveal its full complexity.

Domäne Wachau

Domäne Wachau is one of the most important wine estates in Austria.

Based in Dürnstein, it works with an extraordinary collection of small vineyard parcels spread across the steep terraces of the Wachau.

Its growers farm many of the region's greatest vineyard sites, giving the estate access to an incredible diversity of terroir.

And at the top of the range sit the single-vineyard wines.

Singerriedel is one of the stars.

The focus is on translating vineyard character rather than simply producing a generic regional style.

That means preserving:

Fruit purity

Natural acidity

Mineral expression

Site character

Ageing potential

And when you have a vineyard as distinctive as Singerriedel, that's exactly what you want.

Food Pairings

This is powerful enough to handle serious food.

Try it with:

• Grilled lobster with lemon butter
• Roast kingfish or snapper
• Seared scallops
• Roast pork with crackling
• Duck with citrus
• Wiener Schnitzel
• Thai seafood with lemongrass and ginger
• Vietnamese dishes with fresh herbs
• Roast chicken
• Washed-rind or mature Alpine cheeses

And don't serve it too cold.

Give it a decent glass and let it open.

There's far more complexity here than you'll see straight from the refrigerator.

Why We Love It

There are plenty of good Austrian Rieslings.

This is something more serious.

You have:

Wachau

Single-vineyard Riesling

Ried Singerriedel

Ancient rocky soils

Dramatic steep terraces

Smaragd classification

96 Points – Falstaff

94 Points – JamesSuckling.com

And then there's the price:

RRP $95.

For a wine from one of the Wachau's great Riesling vineyards, that's seriously attractive.

Drink It or Cellar It?

Both.

Right now, you'll get the youthful intensity of peach, apricot, citrus and stone, backed by the mineral tension and acidity of the 2021 vintage.

But give it more time and this should become increasingly fascinating.

Great Wachau Riesling can develop beautiful secondary characters of:

Honey

Preserved citrus

Nuts

Dried herbs

Smoke & minerals

while retaining remarkable freshness.

This has the structure to evolve beautifully.

Buy one to drink.

Buy another to cellar.

2021 DOMÄNE WACHAU SINGERRIEDEL RIESLING SMARAGD

Ried Singerriedel | Spitz | Wachau, Austria

96 Points – Falstaff

94 Points – JamesSuckling.com

RRP $95

Single vineyard.

Steep terraces.

Smaragd.

Great vintage.

One of the Wachau's celebrated Riesling sites.

Powerful. Mineral. Precise. Ageworthy.

The 2021 Domäne Wachau Singerriedel Riesling Smaragd is a brilliant expression of serious Austrian Riesling — concentrated enough to demand attention, yet fresh and mineral enough to make you immediately want another glass.

96 Points. Great Vineyard. Under $100.

If you want to understand why the Wachau belongs among the world's great Riesling regions, this is a bloody good place to start.